I am not quite certain if the Filipino people are mature enough to accept a decision of acquittal on the basis of only 8 votes from 23 voting Senators. I am afraid the number 8 will strike the common mass as a shade to little for acquittal despite the fact that it is only this small number that is necessary to prove innocence. Perceived in the wrong way, the mass may just become rowdy. Oh, how I wish the guilt/innocence by decided on a simple majority vote, that is, 50% plus 1. It is so much easier to comprehend by everyone, thus, the less likely our disgruntle mass may go wild.
Since 8 is such a small number, much smaller than the simple majority vote, it is therefore relatively easier to amass, which makes CJ Corona’s acquittal plausible. Faced with this greater probability of acquittal and a rather corresponding steep climb for conviction, I believe our nation should spend more time educating our people about the 2/3 majority vote requirement for conviction.
I am not also certain that the people know what kind of justice we will be getting from the impeachment, whichever way the decision may go.
Do they understand what kind of justice their Pnoy is after with his matuwid na daan? Will they get the kind of justice they want from its determined, diligent and rigorous pursuit? Do they understand that the “matuwid na daan” correspondingly needs “matuwid na hustisya?”
In reverence to this I will have to ask, “Would the decision, guilty or innocent, be serving Corona his due or society’s [the people’s] due?
To be a bit more specific, would a Pnoy quested guilty decision bring more happiness to the majority of the people? And will this well distributed happiness for the many make a less corrupt and more progressive Philippines? Make me want to ask more.
“Are the results of the surveys in favor of conviction a strong affirmation that the people has the same concept of retributive Justice as their Pnoy? Are the people taking justice as punishment for some wrongdoing, like corruption? Is this all they understand or have to understand about true justice?”
If so, would Pnoy be inclined to expand their understanding to include merit, social justice and equality? That may be a fair or even the best thing to do.
Would Pnoy be tempted to tell the people that CJ Corona, although projected by Malacanang at the very start of the impeachment game as a wrongdoer until this very day and as such deserves some kind of punishment, is one rare CJ that richly deserved to be praised for providing the HLI farmers their long overdue justice, their due, making justice under the Pnoy’s dispensation equally work for the very poor as well as the rich and powerful?
I doubt it. But it is such a praiseworthy act that would reap him a lot of merits in his quest for true justice, justice beyond personal obsession, beyond mere retribution, of love and compassion, intent in breaking a chain of inequality that would hasten the disappearance of the huge gap between the rich and poor.
If I were him, I would do it. It would make him look bigger than he can imagine when by luck he gets to convict Corona before his next SONA. In so doing he would be effecting, modeling, a kind of proper balance between public and private interests, that no president of the republic has done before, based on a meticulous weighing of and combining the justice concepts of merit, social utility. love, compassion and equality that apply best.
Frankly, I hate to see CJ Corona go because I don’t want Pnoy to be tempted to become too powerful. He has already the Ombudsman, the whole executive branch and Congress, the Comelec, the Pollsters,[the PCOS machines], all of which are powerful forces, and supposed to be independent bodies. With an SC subservient to every wish of his, and with no more opposition and no one to check and balance him, he might just be tempted to abuse power . We know very well the fact that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
All for the best,
Ogie
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